A Swedish tourist hospitalized with the swine flu at Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center near Rishon LeTzion gave birth late Wednesday night by Caesarian section.
The surgery was necessitated by the 25-year-old mother's condition, which remains serious. Her new baby is listed in good condition, but he, too, is being tested for the infection.
The young woman was admitted to the hospital Sunday with breathing problems resulting from the H1N1 virus.
A second Swedish tourist, in grave condition, is hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv also with complications from the disease. The 21-year-old woman was admitted with symptoms of pneumonia, but was tested for the virus. Results returned positive after two days. Her mother was also diagnosed with the illness, albeit a milder form, and has been admitted to the same hospital.
According to the head of Sourasky's Infectious Diseases Unit, Professor Yehuda Carmel, it is rare for someone to become sick with pneumonia as a direct result of the H1N1 virus, rather than as the more common development of secondary infection.
These bring the number of serious H1N1 cases in Israel to a total of three. More than 845 people have fallen ill with the virus in the Jewish State since the first outbreaks were identified in Mexico and the U.S. in late April.
None of those infected with swine flu in Israel have lost their lives, and almost all have recovered within a few days.
However, the global pandemic has killed 429 people around the world so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and every continent has been affected.
At least 94,512 people have become sick with the virus, including more than 10,000 in Mexico alone, where the pandemic began. Nearly 34,000 people in the nearby United States have also been infected, and 170 have died of it there.
According to Israel's Health Ministry, nearly all of the cases seen in the Jewish State have been extremely mild, with symptoms resembling the ordinary flu.
People who feel ill and suspect they may have come down with the H1N1 virus are urged to see a medical professional at their local HMO (Kupat Holim) clinic and then isolate themselves at home until the symptoms pass.